Travel by recreational vehicles (hereinafter “RV”) has been a popular pastime such that on any given day thousands of RVs are on the nation's roads. An RV is generally a self contained mobile home that includes areas for cooking, living and sleeping, among other things. Generally, owners of RVs enjoy touring and parking at or near locations of interest, such as national parks, wherein RVs are often parked in preset parking or camping areas, for example. Unfortunately some camping locations do not provide a stable and level parking area for the RV. Thus it is the RV operator's responsibility to ascertain whether or not the potential parking area is a level and safe place to park the RV.
Ascertaining whether a potential parking area has an acceptable grade to park an RV is very important since RVs generally have a relatively high center of gravity. More specifically, as is well known in the art, the higher the center of gravity of an object, generally the less statically stable that object. A higher center of gravity equates to a higher risk of the RV tipping if it is parked in a less than ideal parking area. Further, RVs generally have a large aerodynamic profile wherein cross wind loads can adversely affect the stability and further exacerbate the risk of tipping a stationary RV. Even if the risk of tipping is slight, inclinations of the RV may make the interior cabin inhospitable to the individuals using it, wherein dishes, cups, or other items are apt to slide off the tables, for example. In addition, sleeping on an inclined bed or sitting in an inclined chair may be uncomfortable and/or dangerous.
The monitoring and display of the roll and pitch angle of a vehicle has been disclosed in the prior art. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,784 to Marantz (hereinafter “Marantz”) teaches a vehicle level indicator that is permanently interconnected to the vehicle. The Marantz device and devices similar thereto display the roll and pitch angle of the vehicle at any given time, especially when in motion. Further, these devices are generally used to alert the driver of an unsafe driving condition, such as tipping, thereby allowing the driver to make corrective speed and/or steering adjustments. One drawback to devices of the prior art is that they are not autonomous and are permanently interconnected to the vehicle. Thus in order to ascertain whether a potential parking area is acceptable, the operator must position the RV onto the potential parking area and assess the roll and pitch angle of the vehicle. As it will be understood, this process is potentially dangerous if, for example, the potential parking area being assessed is inherently unsafe.
Further, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0256815 to Eichhorn (hereinafter “Eichhorn”) teaches a system for automatically leveling an RV. More specifically, EIchhorn discloses the use of pneumatically driven jacks that are interconnected to a roll and pitch sensing device. Once the device senses roll and tilt angle of a parked vehicle, the pneumatically driven jacks lift the vehicle such that the roll and tilt angle of the vehicle are placed within an acceptable range. Again, the device of Eichhorn is not autonomous such that it is always interconnected to the vehicle. Further, as in Marantz, in order to initiate leveling, the RV must be parked, at least for a small amount of time, in a less than ideal parking area.
Thus it is a long felt need in the field of recreational vehicle safety to provide an autonomous level indicating device that is easy to use and quickly indicates whether a potential parking area is level prior to positioning the RV onto that area. The following disclosure describes an improved level indication device that is autonomous, easily placed on a potential parking area, and that quickly indicates whether the desired parking area is acceptable and safe.